Deceived and Deceased
by boswifedeb
Summary: While Matt is asked to look into a cold case by a family member of the victims, CJ takes on a case of her own: a case of mistaken identity that strikes close to home. Meanwhile Roy gets to work on his installation jobs with Vince and Will. Rated T. **Immediately follows "Family Secrets & New Beginnings"**
1. Chapter 1

**Deceived and Deceased**

****This story immediately follows "Family Secrets & New Beginnings"****

"**You cain't pray a lie."**

**- **_**Adventures of Huckleberry Finn**_** – Mark Twain**

**CHAPTER 1**

"Houston Investigations." Matt Houston juggled the phone receiver and his three month old daughter Catey Rose along with her diaper bag. It was the Monday morning after the wedding of his secretary, Chris Atwater and the CEO of Houston Industries, Murray Chase. Matt had offered to let the couple use his ranch in Texas for the big event and had just flown back to Los Angeles the night before.

"My name is Charlene Mercer and I would like to speak to Mr. Houston please." The female voice on the other end of the line sounded tired, Matt thought.

"Yes ma'am, you're speaking to him. What can I do for you?" As Matt spoke those words, his daughter decided that her daddy needed help and began making the cooing and gurgling sounds that were her specialty these days. He pulled a small stuffed terry cloth teddy bear out of the diaper bag and handed it to her, causing her to squeal with delight.

"I need some help and I hope it's not too late. My mother and father were murdered three years ago and the killer has never been caught. The police haven't been able to do anything and I just…" she stopped talking and the private investigator could hear the emotion in her voice.

"Alright, when would you like to meet?"

"Would you be able to see me today?" Charlene Mercer now seemed to have a glimmer of hope in her voice.

"I sure can. Would you like to come to the office or can I meet you somewhere?" Matt looked at his watch. CJ was due in to the office any minute. She had received a phone call right before leaving the house and was running just a little late.

"Your office would be fine. I've got a file that contains as many details of the case as I've been able to gather."

"That would be great. What time can I expect you?"

"Would 8:30 be okay?"

"Yes ma'am. I'll be here. Do you need directions?"

"No, a friend pointed out your building to me over the weekend. Thanks so much, Mr. Houston."

"You're welcome." Matt hung up the phone, checked his watch again, and looked at Catey Rose. "We've got a client due here in just a few minutes, Sweet Pea; think you can help Daddy with a case?" He picked her up and headed into the inner office. As he made a pot of coffee, Catey continued to "talk" to him. The two bantered back and forth constantly, something that never failed to make CJ, Matt's wife of sixteen months laugh. He heard the chime of the elevator and he and Catey peeked around the corner to see his wife stepping out.

"Are you two behaving?" She walked in and took Catey and headed for her office.

"Yep, we've even talked to a possible client already. She's supposed to be here at 8:30. Want a cup?" He was pulling a coffee mug out from under the bar for himself.

"That would be great, thanks." CJ put Catey Rose into the playpen in her office and turned on her computer and the printer. In a couple of minutes Matt brought her a steaming cup of coffee. As he set the mug on her desk he turned her chair so that she was facing him. Leaning down with his hands on the arms of the chair, Matt gave his wife a kiss. "Love you, Babe."

"Love you, too. What brought that on?" She was slightly taken aback.

"Nothing. You just looked like you needed a kiss." He grinned and headed back out to the main part of the office and looked at his watch. The elevator chimed again, and out stepped Uncle Roy, followed by his son Will and former LAPD detective Vince Novelli. Vince and his family now ran a very successful Italian restaurant in Hawaii, but he was helping out Roy with installing security systems in a chain of jewelry stores. "Mornin' fellas." Matt walked over to the couch and sat down with the newspaper to wait for Charlene Mercer.

"Working hard I see, Ace. Some things never change, huh?" Vince was only kidding with Matt. They were best friends and loved to torment each other.

"Actually I'm waiting for a new client who should be here just about any minute now." Matt stood as the elevator chimed once more and a pretty brunette walked into the outer office. "Ms. Mercer? Matt Houston, nice to meet you. Would you like to come on back?" He led the way into CJ's office so that she could hear the details of the case as well. "Ms. Charlene Mercer, this is my wife CJ. She'll be helping out with the investigation." Catey Rose picked that moment to let her presence be known as well by gurgling when she recognized her dad's voice. "Oh and this is our daughter, Catey Rose." Matt grinned at the three month old.

"She's adorable! So she helps you out around here?" Charlene Mercer smiled down at the cooing baby.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure you heard her earlier when I answered the phone." Matt chuckled. "Would you like to have a seat?" He offered her a chair in front of CJ's desk. "And I believe you said you had a folder that you wanted us to look at?"

"Yes, here it is." She handed over a manila file folder that contained newspaper clippings from three years earlier.

"I remember hearing about this." Matt began studying the clippings. The Mercers, Kenneth and Joanie, along with their twenty one year old son, Michael, had been found stabbed to death in their home in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles. The scene hadn't offered up very many clues and the case had gone cold. "Is there anything that you can add to this?" He looked up at the lady.

"Only that they deserved better. Mom and Dad were really sweet and generous people. If somebody needed help, they were always right there for them." On the verge of tears, Ms. Mercer was handed a tissue by CJ. "Thank you."

"What about your brother?" He looked back through the clippings as she stammered for a few seconds, then he looked back up at her. "It says here that he had a gang affiliation and a couple of drug arrests."

"Yes, he did, but he had changed. After he was in jail the second time he got straightened out. He didn't have anything to do with the gang or drugs."

He nodded. "You're sure about that?"

Charlene Mercer stood up, obviously upset with him. "Yes, Mr. Houston: I'm very sure. If you don't want the case all you have to do is say so." She reached for the folder.

"I didn't say that. All I did was ask an important question. It might very well have something to do with the murder." Matt stood up. "And something else you need to know before I take the case: there may be other questions that I'll have to ask. Questions that may not sit well with you, but if you want me to find out who did this," he shook the folder, "I'll need nothing but honest answers from you."

She put her hand back down. "Okay. But only because I was told that you were the best. My friend insisted that you were. I hope you won't let me down."

"Ms. Mercer, I'll tell you right up front – I can't make guarantees. But I can tell you that I will do everything humanly possible to find out who murdered your family. In order to do that, we need to be honest with each other. Deal?" He held out his hand to her.

She reached over and shook it. "Deal."

CJ, who had been silent throughout the meeting, spoke up. "Ms. Mercer, who recommended my husband to you?"

"Larry Carlisle." Larry was an officer with LAPD that Houston had met not long after he moved to Los Angeles. The last time Matt had seen him had been a few weeks back when his partner had been murdered. Matt had helped to track down the killer.

"Larry happens to be a very good friend of mine, Ms. Mercer." Matt smiled at her. "My wife has some papers for you to sign and I'll need a number where I can contact you."

"Thank you." She sat back down and CJ slid a contract across the desk and began explaining the contents to her as Matt turned and started out the door.

"CJ, I'm going to pay Hoyt a visit and see what he can give me. Be back in a little while. Love you." He headed for the elevator.

"Okay, love you." She went back to Ms. Mercer and the contract.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

After parking his truck in the parking garage at the police station, Matt found his way into the lobby and up to the desk where he was greeted by Sgt. Bob Peterson, who automatically demanded to see Catey's latest pictures and wanted to know how the wedding had gone. Houston showed off pictures of his daughter and told Bob that the wedding had gone off without a hitch. He then hopped on the elevator and headed up to talk to Lt. Michael Hoyt. As he got off of the elevator, he spied his friend at the coffee pot. "Still trying to sober up?"

Michael heard his friend's voice and turned to face the private investigator, smiling. "Nope, but I bet Murray is – or maybe not." Both men laughed. "What's going on?" Hoyt started for his office and Matt followed along.

"I need to find out what you know about a cold case from three years back. It was a triple murder: Kenneth and Joanie Mercer and their son Michael." He sat down on the couch and put his left foot over on his right knee.

"Mercer, Mercer…" Hoyt sat down and took a sip of coffee before pulling his keyboard to him and typing in the names on his computer. "Oh yeah, that was a bad one alright. Uh huh, I remember hearing about it now – I didn't work that one; that was when I had the flu. The son was a gang member. Who hired you?" He hit the button to print out the file for Matt and leaned back in his chair, taking another sip of coffee.

"Their daughter, Charlene Mercer. Larry Carlisle sent her to me." Neither man said anything for a minute as they thought back to the day that Larry's partner had been gunned down in cold blood. "Has he come back to work yet?" Larry had taken the young man's death particularly hard and had taken some time off.

"As a matter of fact I saw him when I came in. It's his first day back." Hoyt had been somewhat surprised to see the sergeant back; he had been threatening to retire for over a year and the veteran detective had figured that his partner's death would be the final straw. Apparently not.

"Bet it's going to be a tough one for him. I'd kind of like to talk to him – see if he knew the family. Guess he'll be off at 4:30?"

"Yep, should be. I'll get a message to him for you." Hoyt and Matt walked out to the printer in the outer office and the lieutenant handed Houston the information. "That's gonna be a doozy – three years ago." He looked a little skeptical.

"Well I told her up front that I couldn't make any guarantees, but I'll sure try. Thanks for your help, bud." He stopped and looked at the name of the officer who had investigated: Mark Poulton. "Guess I won't be able to ask the investigating detective." Poulton had been killed in an auto accident six months before.

"Nope. Good luck. Let me know if you need anything." Hoyt turned and went back to the paperwork waiting for him on his desk and picked up the phone to have a message sent to Carlisle about calling Houston.

On his way down to the parking garage, Matt started looking through the file. Kenneth Mercer had been fifty seven years old when he was murdered. He had worked in a body shop since the age of seventeen and by the time he was thirty five, he owned it. His wife, Joanie, had been a seamstress at a local bridal shop called "Wedded Bliss". She had been there since the age of nineteen. Both had been found dead, stabbed multiple times in their living room. The son, Michael, had been found stabbed to death on a creeper under his car in the garage of the home. Only one fingerprint had been found and it was a smudge. A cast had been made of a couple of footprints found in a flower bed, and a blood trail had led out of the house and down the front walk. It wasn't a match to any of the Mercers and it appeared to belong to the killer. There hadn't been a DNA match when it was run through the system. The elevator doors opened and Matt headed out to his truck, still reading as he walked.

The bodies of the Mercer family had been found by the postman the next day as he walked to the back of the house to leave a package for Kenneth Mercer. When he saw the body of Michael, he had called the police who found the other two victims when they arrived on the scene. Matt tossed the folder on the seat of the truck as he got in and looked at his watch: it was almost 9:00. He called the office. CJ answered after the fourth ring. "Hey Babe, everything okay?"

"Yeah, Catey just decided that it was time to have a messy diaper. I swear I don't remember the phone ringing as much as it has this morning."

"I'd like to find some temporary help but I hate to bring in a stranger – there's a lot of confidential information around there." He had almost forgotten why he had called her. "Can I get you to do me a favor if you're where you can?"

"Sure, we're done with the diaper and now she's having a bottle – and holding it by herself quite a bit I might add." CJ sounded like the typical proud mother.

"Heavy drinker, huh?" Matt laughed.

"Uh huh. What did you need?"

"Can you look up a bridal shop – "Wedded Bliss" and tell me where they are and what time they open?"

"Uh yeah, but you know that cute little phone that you carry around can do the same thing." She grinned as she typed in the name of the shop and pulled up the information on it. "They open at 10:00 and they are in the 5600 block of Wilshire."

"I know it can, but this gives me a good excuse to check up on my ladies." Matt grinned as he put on his seat belt and started the truck. "See you later, Babe, love you."

"Love you, too. Be careful." She hung up and turned her attention back to her daughter. "You know, you've got a great daddy, Catey."

As he was about to pull out of the garage, Matt's phone rang. He looked at the caller ID: Larry Carlisle. "Hey Larry, thanks for getting back to me so quick. I didn't think I'd be hearing from you until this afternoon."

"Well, the kid is busy writing a speeding ticket so I thought I'd take a chance." Larry sounded pretty good, considering what he had been through.

"Did they give you a rookie?" Matt wasn't surprised. Larry had acted as Field Training Officer to quite a few members of the force.

"Yeah, they did. That's okay though, I get to teach 'em all kinds of bad habits." The sergeant laughed. Matt knew better than that.

"I thought the only bad habit you had was donuts, bud."

"Shhh, don't say that too loud – my wife might be listening. She keeps telling me I need to lose weight."

"And CJ keeps telling me I need to gain more. Hell, I've already put on ten pounds since we got married." Matt laughed. "Hey, I appreciate you sending Charlene Mercer my way. She came to see me this morning. I was wondering: did you know the family?"

"Yeah, I did. My brother used to work for her dad before he moved to Virginia. He was a real nice guy, easy to work for and he was a fair boss. His wife was a sweet lady – made the best chocolate pie I ever put in my mouth."

"Sound like nice folks. Did you know anything about the son?" Matt had put the truck back into park and turned off the engine.

"A little. He had been in some gang related trouble and had a couple of possession charges – crack. The last time I talked to Kenneth he said the boy had gotten cleaned up and was trying to make a fresh start and go to some mechanic school."

"Alright, well that's more than I started out with this morning. I sure appreciate it. You take care of yourself, you hear? You and Shirley need to come out to the ranch one night and let me cook you some steaks."

"Be careful, Houston, I might just take you up on that."

"I'd be glad if you did, bud. Talk to you later." Houston hung up the phone and pulled out his notebook, jotting down the information that Larry had given him on the family. He still had forty five minutes before the bridal shop opened, so he decided to swing by the home to get the lay of the land.

As he pulled up in front of 11598 Commonwealth Avenue Matt shut off the engine. It was a nice looking neighborhood of homes that were built in the 1950's and 60's, well taken care of with lawns that were worth bragging about. From what he had heard so far about Kenneth and Joanie Mercer, they would have fit right in. As he sat there a bald-headed man of about sixty knocked on the window of his truck. "Can I help you with something?" He eyed Matt suspiciously.

"Well sir, maybe you can. I'm a private investigator." Matt pulled out his business card and handed it to the man. "I've been asked to look into the murder of the family that used to live here – the Mercers. Would you happen to have known them by any chance?"

"Maybe I did, but I'm not telling you anything until I see a PI's license." The older fella wasn't going to cut Matt any slack.

"Yes sir, I can sure show you." He pulled out his ID and held it up for the man to see.

"Okay. Can't be too careful these days. This is a nice neighborhood and I aim to keep it that way. And yeah I knew Kenny and Joanie. Two of the nicest people you could ever want to meet. Damn shame what happened to 'em." He looked up at the house. "So somebody hired you to look into it, huh?"

"Yes sir, the daughter – Charlene?"

"Nice girl. I remember when the kids were young – her and her brother Michael. He got a bad streak in him when he hit sixteen but he had cleaned up his act before he died. I was a little skeptical until he came over to see me one day. I live over there." He pointed to a stucco house with a pair of palm trees decorating the front yard. "The boy actually apologized to me. He and some of his little gang banger buddies spray painted my car one night after I complained about all the boom-boom music coming out of one of 'em's car. His dad painted it for me and I didn't call the cops out of respect for his parents. I gotta say I was impressed that he had the stones to come apologize like that. And he was clean – you could see it in his eyes. Damn shame – he was supposed to start mechanic school the next week. He was twenty one at the time."

"Did you happen to see or hear anything the night that they were killed?" Matt had a feeling that the man probably knew everything that went on within a three block radius.

"The only thing that I saw – and I told the cops when they knocked on my door – was a fist fight out in the front yard. Some of Michael's old gang buddies came and paid him a visit. He took a few licks but ended up on the winning side. The boy used to box when he was younger and evidently didn't forget the moves – he knocked one of 'em slap out."

"Well sir, Mr. – I didn't catch your name." Houston held his hand out.

"That's 'cause I didn't throw it." He laughed. "William Bellwood." The two men shook.

"I sure appreciate the information. If you should happen to think of anything else please call me."

"You betcha." The man started back across the street as Matt dropped the truck into gear and headed toward the bridal shop.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

"Houston Investigations, may I help you?" CJ answered the phone for what seemed like the five hundredth time that day.

"Uh, yes my name is Terrence Whitaker. Mr. Houston was supposed to meet with me at 9:00 and he hasn't shown yet." The man sounded obviously irritated.

"Mr. Whitaker, there's been some kind of mistake. Mr. Houston didn't have any appointments scheduled for this morning. When did you speak to him?" CJ was confused.

"We met there at his office Saturday afternoon at 4:00. Look, he said he would meet with me this morning to discuss the case. If he doesn't want to take it, then he needs to give back the retainer that I paid him."

"Sir, Mr. Houston wasn't here Saturday afternoon – he was at a wedding." She knew for a fact that Matt hadn't set foot in the office since the Tuesday before – he had been called out of the bed early Wednesday morning by Michael Hoyt who needed help with a kidnapping case.

"Look lady, maybe you're just his secretary and he doesn't tell you everything. I was there with my wife Saturday at 4:00 and he took our money - $2500 in cash."

"Mr. Whitaker, I'm not Mr. Houston's secretary – I happen to be his partner in the agency as well as his wife. I assure you that we were at a wedding Saturday afternoon. I don't know if this is some kind of joke, but if it is, I don't find it funny at all."

"Well we'll just see if you're laughing when I file a complaint with the police department and the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. Let's see you laugh at that!" He suddenly hung up and CJ was left to stare at the receiver. Maybe it was just a prank or someone trying to pull a scam. Either way, Matt had plenty of witnesses as to where he had been Saturday afternoon. He was at his ranch in Houston, Texas acting as best man in a wedding with approximately one hundred guests. After thinking it over, she picked the phone back up and called Michael Hoyt.

"Hi Michael, have you got a minute?"

"Sure, it's actually been quiet this morning. Oops, I shouldn't have said that – I'll curse myself." The lieutenant laughed. "What can I do for you?"

"I just had a strange phone call, and I sure hope it was a joke." She went on to explain Mr. Whitaker's complaint.

"Humph. At least he's got about a hundred witnesses to his whereabouts – but if somebody is getting into the office when you two aren't there that could be a really big problem. Do you think maybe he was trying to run a scam?"

"That crossed my mind. If he was, he should go into the acting business. If I hadn't known better I would have believed him."

"Well if it isn't a scam or joke let me know – I can testify where he was." He couldn't believe anybody would try to pull a scam like that but people did all kinds of crazy things. "Maybe you better have a look at the security footage?"

"Yeah, Catey and I are about to do just that. There really isn't much more I can do than that – and ask the security desk downstairs if they saw anything suspicious. Thanks a lot, Michael."

"No problem. Let me know if you need anything." He hung up the phone and headed out to get another cup of coffee, thinking about what CJ had just told him.

Picking her daughter up, CJ went into the main part of the office and pulled up BABY, Matt's computer that he used in his investigations. The screen for the computer was actually the blinds on the window to the patio and was much bigger than any other monitor in the office, so it was ideal for checking security videos. She pulled up the surveillance data from the weekend and checked through it and didn't spot anything out of the ordinary. "Catey, I believe somebody is trying to scam Mama and Daddy." Her daughter let out a grunt. "Exactly what I thought. You're such a good helper. Let's look through this again." As she started the playback again, she thought about a break-in that had occurred while she and Matt had been in Hawaii about five months previously. Someone had tapped into the camera in the stairwell just outside of the office and frozen the feed. Since Whitaker had claimed to be there at 4:00, she fast forwarded to just before that time – and sure enough the feed had been frozen for over two hours. "Oh boy. Daddy is NOT going to be happy when he hears about this." Catey responded by blowing a raspberry. CJ couldn't help but laugh. "Did he teach you how to do that?" The baby just grunted again. "I'll take that for a yes."

She reached for the phone and called the security desk downstairs. "Walter, it's CJ. Good, how about you? Well good. Look, we've apparently got a problem." She explained the phone call and what she had found on the security footage.

"No way! Wow, Houston is gonna be steamed. Gees, well, I'll call Thompson and Gutierrez, they were here Saturday at that time. I'll call you back as soon as I get done with them." Walter knew Houston had a temper and sure didn't want it to be directed at him. That would make the second time in six months that there had been a lapse in security.

CJ hung up and went back into her office and looked at the caller ID on the phone. She called Terrence Whitaker's number. "Mr. Whitaker? This is CJ Parsons-Houston. I've been doing some checking and it appears that someone broke into our office Saturday afternoon. Could you give me a description of the man that claimed to be my husband?"

"Sure somebody did. I tell you what; you've really got some nerve. Taking folks hard earned money." Whitaker didn't believe her at all.

"Look, I've just told you what is going on. Now I'd like to help you get your money back. The only way I can do that is if you cooperate with me and tell me what the man looked like."

Evidently Whitaker believed her that time. "Okay, he was about 5'8", and had blonde hair, medium build."

"Could you tell me what he was wearing?" CJ had no idea who the man was but he certainly had nerve to come into the office.

"Uh yeah, he had on a pair of jeans, a blue t-shirt, and sneakers."

"Okay, anything else – like facial hair?" Matt had been wearing his moustache proudly since the age of fourteen.

"No he was clean shaven. Are you serious about this?"

"Yes sir, I am. I've just been reviewing the security footage and it's been tampered with at the time you said you were here." She put Catey back into her playpen and headed to the bar for a cup of coffee.

"Wow. Uh, well, I guess I better call the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services back then. Lady, I'm sorry, I really thought it was him. But you say he's got witnesses where he was?"

"Yes sir, he wasn't even in the state – and there were about a hundred wedding guests who can testify to the fact that he was the best man – and one is a police officer."

"I'm really sorry. I sure would like to know who that was so I could get my hands on him." Whitaker didn't sound like such a bad person after all.

"Believe me, sir, when my husband finds out about this he'll want first crack at the guy." After talking on for a couple more minutes and getting Whitaker's address, CJ hung up and looked over at her daughter who was now napping. "Guess that's about all I can do at the moment." The description that Whitaker had given her could have covered half of the men in LA. She sighed and took a sip of coffee. The phone rang again. It was Walter.

"Hi CJ, it's Walter. I just talked to Gutierrez and Thompson – they both said it was quiet as a tomb around here all weekend except for just before 4:00. The alarm on the stairwell door went off – oh hell, that's what happened before, isn't it? Damn."

"Exactly what happened before." She took another sip of coffee and looked at her watch. It was almost 10:45.

"Look, I'm sorry. They said they checked it out and the door was secure and they even went upstairs to the office and the door to the stairwell was locked, so they didn't go in and check. They thought maybe it was just a fluke. If it happens again we'll be checking inside the office. I'm really sorry, CJ."

"It's not your fault, Walter. I just talked to the man who met him here and he said that the guy was about 5'8" with blonde hair."

"Well that sure as hell ain't Houston. Man, he's going to be mad. Okay, I'm going to call every guard we have on staff and let them know what's going on." Walter was about to hang up when CJ had an idea.

"No Walter, I tell you what; don't call them. I've just had an idea. Try to keep this quiet, okay? Call Thompson and Gutierrez back and tell them to keep it under their hats. Thanks." She hung up and called Michael Hoyt back.

"Michael, it's me again. Look, can you have somebody come over and check for prints on the stairwell camera and the door again? I've got an idea on who it might have been."

"Sure thing, I'll call down and send someone over. Do you need me to come there as well?" He knew CJ was a tough cookie when she had to be but with Catey there he didn't want her taking any chances.

"No, I'm fine. If it's who I'm thinking it could be, there's no way they would come up here now." After finishing her call to Hoyt, CJ headed downstairs to the closet in the gym and pulled out some of Matt's critters as he called the surveillance cameras and bugs that he had helped Derwin Dunlap to design. She was going to set up a trap for the imposter.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

"I'm sorry sir, but we don't handle tuxedos here. I can give you the name of someone who does." The pretty lady behind the counter was giving Matt a big smile and batting her eyelashes at him.

"That's not why I'm here." He handed her one of his cards. "My name's Matt Houston. I'm a private investigator and I've been hired to look into the murder of a lady who used to work here about three years ago – Joanie Mercer?"

"Oh, wow. I wasn't here then but Stacy was. Hang on a second and let me get her." She disappeared into the back and in a moment Matt was joined by a slightly plump blonde.

"Hi, I'm Stacy. Jenny said you had some questions about Joanie Mercer?" She looked surprised.

"Yes ma'am. I was hired to look into the murders of the family. Could you tell me a little bit about Mrs. Mercer?"

Stacy leaned on the counter. "She was a really good person, just the sweetest you can imagine. I started here just a few months before it happened and she helped me so much. Training can only get you so far in this business, and working with Joanie was more helpful than any class I ever took. She just really had a feel for it, you know?"

Matt nodded. "Kind of an artist, huh?"

"Exactly." Stacy smiled thinking back. "She even helped me with my dress – I got married about three months after I got started here. She wouldn't take any money for it – said it was a wedding present for me. I really don't know what else I can tell you."

"Do you know anything about her husband or son?" Matt had been getting pretty much the same story so far from everyone that he had talked to and had come to a conclusion: even though they were such nice people, someone had sure wanted to murder them – and there had to be some reason.

"I met her husband a couple of times. She was having car troubles and he came to take care of it for her. He was really nice, too. Even jumped my car off and helped me put in a new battery when it died. Now her son I never met. But she and I would talk while we were busy in the back. She told me about the trouble he had been in, but she also said that he had gotten cleaned up the last time he was in jail. He went through rehab and turned his life around. She was really proud of him even after all the trouble he had been in. And her daughter was real nice, too. Of course, she didn't get murdered – I guess you already know that though."

"Yes ma'am – she's the one who hired me." He looked around and thought for a minute. "Did Mrs. Mercer ever talk to you about her or her husband having problems with someone?"

"No sir. They were just real good, happy folks. Especially after the son got straightened out. I wish I knew something else to tell you. I sure do miss her." She gave Matt a sad smile.

"Alright then. If you should happen to think of anything else, please call me." He gave her a card and thanked her again before walking out the door. Climbing in, Matt was trying to figure out what to do next. The most likely cause for the murders appeared to be related to the son's gang and drug troubles – his parents had been squeaky clean. He decided to head back to the office and use BABY to do a little digging on the son's activities.

When he stepped off of the elevator at the office, Matt found his wife standing on top of Chris' desk. "When did you start doing table dances?" He gave her a devilish smile and wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"When I found out that someone was impersonating you Saturday afternoon and took $2500 from a potential client right here in the office." She leaned on her husband's shoulders and he helped her to the floor looking totally surprised at what she had just said.

"Would you mind explaining that?"

"I got a phone call from a Terrence Whitaker earlier, claiming that you had agreed to meet him at 9:00 and that you hadn't shown up." She went on to give him the rest of the details. His expression changed from confusion to anger by the time she was done.

"So somebody hacked the camera. Damn it! Okay, that's getting changed. I'll move it up higher and use a metal cover over the cords. We won't have that problem again unless we get a welder in here with a ladder. Damn!" He walked on into the office and hit the coffee pot again. "And this guy filed a complaint on us?"

"He did, but when I called him back and explained what had happened he said he would call and talk to them and get it dropped." She followed her husband over to the couch and sat down as he pulled up BABY.

"Has Uncle Roy started on the jewelry store deal yet?" He started pulling up more information on Michael Mercer.

"I believe they are getting their supplies ready today."

"Okay." He stopped what he was doing and called Roy's cell phone. "Hey, it's me. Look, I've got a job for y'all if you can do it. Shouldn't take too long." He explained what had happened and what he wanted done with the camera. "Alright, thanks. See you in a while." Matt hung up and looked over at CJ. "They'll do it when they get done picking up the equipment." Sitting back on the couch, he put his arm around her. "So you were planting some of the critters out there, huh?"

She nodded. "I figure we can keep an eye on things from home and maybe catch him."

"It's got to be somebody from here doing it, CJ. Nobody else would know about the camera getting hacked back when we were in Hawaii. I hate to think it's one of our guys here, but it sure sounds like it." Matt started back in on Michael Mercer.

"Have you found out anything about the Mercers?" CJ rubbed his neck. She knew that he was pretty upset about the security breach.

"They seem to have been good folks, CJ. The only smudge on them appears to have been the son and he supposedly had gotten clean. One of the neighbors said that he had a fight in front of the house the night before they were found with some of his former gang members. That seems like the most logical place to look right now." He started reading what came up on the gang. "I've never heard of these guys before – they called themselves the Melrose Mob." Matt rolled his eyes. "Petty stuff mostly, some car break-ins, vandalism, drunk and disorderly; then they moved up to pot and crack. Oh and look here: a drive by that happened right before Michael went to jail the second time. That's not petty – looks like they graduated to heavier charges." He read further. "It doesn't look like he had anything to do with it, though." Catey Rose could be heard crying down in the nursery and CJ started to get up to go get her. "I'll get her – maybe getting away from this for a minute will give me an idea on it." He kissed CJ on the cheek and stepped over the back of the couch and headed down to get his daughter.

CJ took over on researching the Mercers. She could hear Matt and Catey downstairs talking as he changed her diaper and then headed back upstairs to get her a bottle. As he warmed it up, he was holding Catey up with her feet on the bar and blowing raspberries on her belly, causing her to burst into laughter. Roy and his helpers got off of the elevator just then and the older man looked around for his great niece. "Somebody sure seems happy in here." Catey was laughing non-stop and all three of the men stopped to watch the pair, smiling. "Mattlock, I think you might be doing a pretty good job as a dad. That little lady sure is happy."

Matt pulled the milk out of the microwave and got a bib on his daughter, then headed for the couch. "Well thank you. I try. Ain't that right, Sweet Pea?" He blew another raspberry on the baby's belly and she launched into another fit of giggles leaving all of the adults to laugh along with her. Matt sat back down next to his wife and started giving Catey her bottle which she promptly took out of his hand and took control of – much to his surprise. "Alrighty, you just go right ahead there, lil lady."

"Have you had any leads on who the imposter was?" Roy walked on over and sat down next to his nephew, taking Catey Rose and helping her with her bottle. "You know, I kinda missed doing this." He grinned.

"No, but we think it might be one of our own from the building. Nobody else knew about the camera deal except for folks in security, us, Hoyt, and Cheryl Crawford – and it sure as hell wasn't her." Matt looked back over at the computer screen, then over the back of the couch at his cousin Will. "So Cuz, when are you planning on having one of these running around? You heard the man – he likes taking care of babies."

Will blushed. "Well, I need to have a wife first – or so I've been told. I'm working on it."

"Yeah, we've heard that before from somebody else." Vince looked down at Matt who was grinning from ear to ear. There was a knock on the stairwell door and Vince and Will headed that way. "Must be the maintenance guy with the ladder. How high do you want it, Houston?"

Matt got up and stepped over the couch and headed to the stairwell with the other two men. "High enough where somebody can't reach it without having to do a whole lot of work. Have you got the metal sleeve?"

Vince pulled the piece of steel out of his pocket. "This should do the trick unless they bring a welder with them."

Houston clapped him on the back. "Let's take a look."

Roy was looking at what CJ was researching. "I remember hearing about this one. Who hired him?"

"Charlene Mercer, their daughter. Larry Carlisle pointed her in our direction." She switched to another source and began reading again.

"Three years ago. That's not going to be easy." Roy looked down at Catey who was watching him in fascination and smiled at him when he looked at her. She pulled the bottle out of her mouth and blew a raspberry at the older man – along with a mouthful of formula. He cracked up as CJ handed him a tissue.

"Sorry about that." CJ looked at her daughter who seemed to find the whole business absolutely hilarious. "Catey, I think your daddy has been teaching you some bad habits." The baby only laughed louder.

"She's definitely his child." Roy was laughing almost as hard as his great niece. "She sure is a happy baby, CJ. You two really are doing a good job with her."

"Thanks. Now if we could do as good a job with this…" She went back to the information on the Mercers. "I'm just not seeing too much to work with here other than the gang members – and several of them are dead now." CJ punched a few more keys. "Six of them are in prison. Maybe we could talk to them."

"It's a thought." Roy put Catey up on his shoulder, using her bib for a burp cloth. After a minute of lightly patting on her back she let out with a super-size burp just as Matt and Vince walked back into the office.

"That's my girl!" Matt punched Vince on the arm.

"Yep, she sounds just like you." They sat down at the bar and grabbed a cup of coffee.

Matt swiveled back around to look at the screen. "Did you find anything, Babe?"

"Not really. Maybe we should interview the gang members that are in prison – there are six of them. Nine of them are dead now." She turned to look at her husband.

"I doubt if we could get much from them, but it's worth a try. Can you put me a list together?" He took a sip.

"Sure can." She went back to the computer and started in on the request.

"Uncle Roy, where are y'all going to start on the alarms?" Matt got up and headed back over to the couch, stepping over the back. Catey got all excited and started wiggling when he sat down, so Roy handed her over to her dad.

"In town here tomorrow. Then we'll go to San Diego, San Francisco, Denver, Houston, Pensacola, Atlanta…and I forget after that. I'll give you a list before we leave."

"Y'all can stay at the ranch when you're in Houston. I know Madre Rosa would sure enjoy it." Matt had his daughter resting on his chest and she was busy playing with his chin, stopping occasionally when he spoke and listening intently.

CJ got up and went into her office to retrieve the list for Matt and when she came back both of the men on the couch were making goofy faces and weird sounds causing Catey to laugh again. "Here you go hon. Lucky for us all of them are in Lancaster." She handed her husband the list and the baby made a grab for it. "Why don't you come see me for a minute?" CJ took the baby from Matt and Vince walked over.

"I'll take that little package – I'm kinda like Roy. It's been a while since Tony was this size." Vince took the baby that he claimed as his niece and walked out onto the patio with her.

"That child is going to be spoiled with so many people paying attention to her." She smiled as Vince started pointing at the different buildings surrounding the penthouse patio and thought about how lucky her daughter was to have so many people who loved her.

Matt looked at his watch as his stomach grumbled. "I could use some lunch, how about y'all?" Roy and CJ both agreed and Matt went out on the patio. "Hey bud, you getting hungry?"

"Yeah, I could eat." Vince walked back in with Catey.

"CJ, call down to Ricardo's and see if they can save us a table, will ya?" He stuck his head out in the stairwell just as Will was climbing down the ladder. "How would you feel about going to Ricardo's for some lunch?"

"I won't argue at all, Matt." He handed his cousin the drill he had been using. "I'll meet you downstairs – gonna take this back down to maintenance."

"Alright thanks, Will." Stepping back into the office he called to the rest of the crew. "Last one in the elevator's a rotten egg!" He pushed the button as the others came out to join him. "CJ, did you activate the critters?"

"Sure did." She and Catey joined the group as they headed downstairs.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

After a delicious lunch of tacos and burritos, Matt left the group and headed over to meet Michael Hoyt. He had called the police lieutenant while waiting on his lunch order and had talked him into going to the prison at Lancaster to interview the gang members. Hoyt had called ahead and made arrangements with the warden for the interviews.

The first prisoner was brought into the small office that the detectives were using. He sat down in the chair and looked at Hoyt and Houston. "Who are you guys?" Darren Lockwood had been eighteen when he'd been sentenced to a twenty year prison term for second degree murder.

"Lt. Hoyt, LAPD. This is Matt Houston, a private investigator. We need to ask you some questions about Michael Mercer."

"He got killed about three years ago. He used to run with us, but then he got jumped out of the gang. Said he wanted to get himself straight." Lockwood looked down at his handcuffs and shackled feet. "He tried to talk to me and get me to go with him. Sure wish now that I had."

"Do you know anything about a couple of the members going over to his house the night before he was found and getting into a fight with him?" Matt sat back in his chair.

"No. Now there was a fight, ya know he got jumped out about a month or so before that. But no, I don't think anybody was over there that night. Our business with him was already done."

"Do you know of anyone else who would have wanted him or his parents dead?" The private investigator tended to believe Lockwood.

The inmate shook his head no. "His parents were real nice. They tried to help all of us that came over there to see Michael. We were just too stupid to take them up on it." He held up his hands that were in cuffs. "There's a price for being stupid and I'm paying it."

Hoyt looked at Matt. "I don't have anything else – do you?"

Matt shook his head no. "Darren, thanks for your help. And good luck." The guard escorted the prisoner out and another guard brought the next one in.

Richie Santino had more of an attitude than Lockwood. "What the hell do YOU want?" He looked at the two detectives like they had lost their minds.

"A few answers." Matt started asking him the same questions as the man before him. Before he even got finished with the first question Santino rolled his eyes.

"I ain't telling you jack. You might as well forget it." He looked up at the ceiling as Matt started repeating the question. "LOOK I TOLD YOU…"

Matt's hand slammed down on the desk, causing even Hoyt and the prison guard to jump involuntarily. The deep gravelly voice that came out of Matt's mouth got Santino's attention quickly. "You're gonna answer my questions honestly or you're sure as hell gonna wish you had, boy." He stared at the young man for a few seconds then repeated his question.

"No man, I don't know nothin' about any of that. I was at the hospital most of that week. My little brother got shot and was in a coma." Santino's attitude was completely gone now, but Matt didn't let up on him. He asked about the fight and the man shook his head no. "He was already out then, like a month before. We didn't have any beefs with him." Matt told the guard that he could go. Santino hustled out of the room, glad to be out of the private eye's reach.

"Damn! You scared ME!" Hoyt shook his head. "Let me know if you're gonna do something like that, would ya?"

"Sorry." Matt smiled down at his friend. The rest of the prisoners all said basically the same thing. None of them knew anything about who had done the murders. Just as they were about to leave, one of the guards stepped inside the office.

"Lt. Hoyt, one of the men wants to come back – he thought of something else." Hoyt nodded and Santino was brought back in.

"I remembered something. Michael had some trouble with the old guy that lived on the other side of the street. I don't know what his name was. He had a shaved head, though." He looked at Matt who nodded.

"Was he about the same age as Michael's dad?" He thought he might know who the prisoner was talking about.

"Yeah, he was a real jerk. Always complaining about the music. And we didn't even have it that loud because of Michael's mom – she got a lot of headaches." He looked a little embarrassed.

"Is he the one that got his car decorated?" Matt gave a little smirk.

"Uh huh, I kind of supplied the paint." Santino looked a little sheepish, then grinned. "Like I said, he was a jerk. Michael's dad painted his car to keep him from calling the cops, but that wasn't good enough – he wanted to get paid, too."

The two detectives exchanged a look. "Would you be willing to testify to that in court?" Hoyt looked at the prisoner.

"I would."

"Okay. We might be seeing each other again soon." Matt stuck his hand out and shook with the young man. "Thanks."

"Yes sir." Santino turned and the guard took him back to his cell block.

"I know exactly who he's talking about: William Bellwood. He tried to give me the third degree this morning when I stopped by to check out the area." Matt stretched as he looked at Hoyt.

"Let's go find out what we can about him then." They headed back to Hoyt's office and ran a check on Bellwood. He didn't have any fingerprints in the system and had never been booked on any charges. "Clean as a whistle, Houston."

Matt walked over to the window and looked out at the traffic below. "You know, I just thought of something: what Bellwood told me this morning about the fight in Mercer's front yard? That wasn't in the police report." He looked over at Hoyt. "Why do I get the feeling he was trying to point the blame in the direction of the gang? Easy targets for sure."

"Yep. But we're going to need some good proof. The word of Santino won't stand a snowball's chance in hell up against Bellwood." Hoyt got up and went to the coffee pot in the outer office and brought back two cups, handing one to Matt as both of them sat down on the couch.

"We're going to have to find some way to shake it out of him." Matt sipped the coffee as he thought. "I wonder who owns the Mercer's house now?"

Hoyt got up and did a search on the property. "Hmm. It went to your client after her parent's died."

Matt was slightly surprised that she hadn't sold it. "You wouldn't think she would keep it after that, would you?"

"I wouldn't want it, that's for sure." Michael looked back at the screen. "It's not rented out either, unless she hasn't gotten a certificate of occupancy. Wait a minute." He punched a few more keys on the computer. "Nope, it doesn't have to have one. Says so right here Los Angeles Municipal Code §151.02. It's a single family home on a lot. Damn."

"Hang on a minute." Matt pulled out his phone and called the office. CJ finally answered after the third ring. "Another poopy diaper?" He grinned over at Michael.

"Yep, your daughter has been contributing to society a LOT today." She snickered. "What's up?"

"On the contract that Charlene Mercer signed this morning – what did she use for an address?"

"Uh let's see….9582 Maltman Dr. Why?"

"Because she still owns the property on Commonwealth. We wondered if maybe she was renting it. What does she have down for her place of employment?" Matt pulled out his notebook.

"Apparently she owns a hair salon – Charlene's House of Hair. I don't particularly care for the vision that name evokes – hair wallpaper maybe?" She snickered once again.

"And apparently the poopy diaper hasn't dampened your mood." He snickered as did Michael who hadn't even heard what she said. "Hang on a minute." Matt put the phone on speaker. "Just read us the information on her contract."

"Hi, Michael. Let's see here, you already know her name, I just gave you the address, the phone number is 323-555-9824. Let's see here, under personal contact outside of family member she put down a William Bellwood…"

"Aha, she did huh? The plot thickens. That's the guy that one of the gang members told us that Michael had problems with. He lived across the street from the Mercers and according to him, Kenneth Mercer painted the guy's car after Michael and some of the others spray painted it for him after an altercation over loud music. It seems he was also demanding money in addition to getting his car painted by Kenneth. Very interesting. What else have you got on there?" Matt was starting to get highly suspicious of his client.

"I've got Bellwood's phone number but that's pretty much it. Do you want that, too?"

"Yeah, let me have it, Babe." He wrote down the number. "Very interesting. Is everything okay there?"

"Fine. Roy and the boys are working on their plans for the jewelry stores – and from the sound of it, they're having a good time." She could hear them laughing from time to time.

"Okay." Matt looked at his watch. It was almost 4:00. "Are you and Catey going to be heading home pretty soon?"

"I believe we're about to head that way now. How about you?" She was gathering up Catey's diaper bag and bottles.

"I believe so. I'm going to have to do some thinking on how to draw this guy out. See you in little bit."

"Okay, be careful. Love you, hon."

"Love you too, Babe. 'Bye." He smiled as he hung up and Hoyt shook his head. "What?"

"How on earth did you manage before you two got married? Do you realize how much you depend on that lady?"

"Yep, that's part of the reason why I married her, Michael." He stood up and headed for the door. "Tell Anne and Kathy hello for me."

"I'll do it. Talk to you tomorrow."


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

Later that evening, after Matt had grilled steaks for everyone, they were sitting around the table on the patio talking about the jewelry store jobs and the Mercer case. Vince was staying with Matt and CJ while he was working with Roy in LA and Will had been staying with his dad. Matt was glad to have Vince around; the two men were best friends and didn't get to see each other as much as they would have liked. Just before dark, Matt picked up Catey Rose and went down to the barn to check on the horses. She seemed to love them as much as her dad and Cricket, who was Matt's favorite horse, was always happy to nuzzle her and didn't mind her being a passenger on their nightly rides around the pasture. After returning to the house, Matt and CJ gave Catey a bath and then put her to bed. Roy and Will had gone home and Vince was still sitting out by the pool when Matt came out to sit with him.

"So, are you looking forward to the job?" Matt handed his buddy a beer and the two men kicked back and listened to the crickets chirping.

"Yeah, I am. I love working at the restaurant, but a little change is good for the soul, you know?" Vince grinned. "I was surprised Isabella agreed to this. It's putting a lot more work on her. Plus she won't have the pleasure of my company." Both men cracked up.

It got quiet and Matt was thinking about the Mercer case and the imposter who had been in his office Saturday. He broke the silence. "Security would have seen Whitaker going upstairs if he rode the elevator."

Vince looked over at Matt. "Yeah, they would have. So he went up the stairs? Wouldn't that seem weird to him?"

"You would think so, but maybe the guy told him the elevator was out of order or something." He took a swig of the beer. "I wonder if there's something going on between Charlene Mercer and William Bellwood."

Vince set his beer down and turned to face Matt. "How do you do that?"

"What?" Matt took another swig.

"Jump back and forth between two entirely different things like that." He had seen Matt work through cases before, usually pacing around the office, but that was one case at a time.

"I don't know. One thought occurred to me and then the other." He was staring up at the stars while Vince just looked at him and shook his head. He had often wondered what Matt's IQ was; the man could seemingly do just about anything that was put in front of him.

CJ walked out carrying the baby monitor. She sat down between the two men. No one said anything. Matt got up and started walking around the patio. CJ looked at Vince. "Did I miss something?"

"No," he pointed at Matt with his beer bottle, "he's working through the Mercer case and the imposter at the same time. Should be an interesting show."

"Oh. Okay." CJ watched her husband. He would pace for a minute or two and then stop, staring up at the sky, then pace some more.

"You know, I've wondered something: what is his IQ?" Vince turned to CJ and leaned forward.

"Why?" She grinned.

"The way he goes about things – I mean, he'll do stuff that at first seems totally off the wall, but by the end of it, it makes perfect sense."

"160."

"That's like near genius, right?" The former cop was astounded. CJ nodded. "Why am I surprised?"

"I don't know – what's your IQ, Vince?" She giggled.

"Shut up, CJ. You know, you used to be so sweet – until you married him." He laughed.

Matt walked back over and sat down next to CJ. "Well did you figure out anything?" She ran her fingers through the hair at the base of his neck.

"Not exactly. We need to do some more digging tomorrow morning. I want to see what we can find on our client and William Bellwood. Something just doesn't fit, CJ. And we need to meet with Whitaker and get him to tell us about his trip up to the office. If he had taken the elevator, he would have to get past security. Since they didn't know anything about him being there, he must have taken the stairs, which tells me we need to check the door down at the parking garage – the imposter may have jammed it somehow so that the alarm wouldn't go off again. It only went off once."

"Well so far tonight we haven't had any visitors at the office – I just checked the critter feed." She ran her hand down his arm and he automatically opened his hand and closed it around hers. Vince watched the pair. If he hadn't known better he would have thought they had been married ten years or more. Matt raised her hand in his and kissed it, then patted on his lap and she moved over to sit there and put her arms around his neck and her head on his shoulder. He was still obviously thinking about the cases, staring at the stars as if the answers to his questions were there, but paying attention to CJ at the same time, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her tightly. Vince just shook his head.

Without even looking directly at his friend Matt asked, "What Vince?"

"Nothing. You two just – I don't know. You're kind of spooky in a way." He laughed. "You should have been married years ago, and if somebody didn't know you and your history, they would think that you had been by watching the way you act."

"Got any idea what he's talking about, CJ?" Matt looked at his wife and grinned.

"Nope, not a clue." She leaned over and kissed him then. Vince just shook his head and leaned back in the chair, watching the stars and decided that he was missing his wife.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

The next morning, Vince rode into work with Matt. CJ and Catey would be coming in a little bit later. Roy had planned for them to start on their first jewelry store job at 9:00am. When Matt walked into the office, the first order of business was making the coffee. Then he went and started up BABY and began pulling up information on William Bellwood. Vince joined him on the couch. "Man this brings back some memories."

Matt stopped what he was doing and headed over to the bar to get a cup of coffee. "Want some?"

"Sure." Vince took the cup that his friend brought him.

Sitting back down in front of the computer, Matt leaned back and took a sip. "I know y'all are happy with the restaurant and all, but I sure miss you being around. Not just you; the kids, Mama, Isabella – the whole gang."

"I miss being here, but right now, I think it's the right thing. But I have thought about eventually moving back." Vince drank some of the coffee. "Most people would think that was insane: leaving Hawaii and moving back to the smog pit." He laughed.

"That's okay, Vince. We already know you're crazy – otherwise you wouldn't hang around with us." The private investigator grinned as he started back in on his research. "Hmmm. The wonderful Mr. Bellwood was divorced not too long after the murders. Says here that his wife claimed he was cheating on her with," Matt scrolled down to the next page, "HELLO! Look at this Vince."

The former detective looked up at the screen. "Wow. Now there's almost certainly a connection there – gotta be." The two men read on through the transcripts of the divorce hearing. "Holy cow!" They looked at each other.

Just then the elevator chimed and Matt craned his head around to see who was there. "CJ, you gotta see this." She walked into her office and put Catey into her playpen and then came back out where the two men were seated.

"Oh boy. Well she sure didn't tell us about that, did she?" She came and sat down between them.

Matt reached for the phone and called Michael Hoyt. "Hey, I gotta ask for a favor."

Roy and Will stepped off of the elevator and headed into the office. Matt hung up the phone after explaining to Hoyt what he needed. "So are you boys about ready to get started?" Matt stood up and stretched.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Will looked at Vince. "You think we can keep this old coot in line?"

"This old coot is your boss, boy; you would do well to remember that." Roy popped his son on the back of the head as everyone else snickered. "Matt, are you sure you won't be need the van?"

"Well if I really get in a bind I'll just flap my wings and fly to Pensacola or wherever you are and take it in the middle of the night." He grinned at his uncle. "No, I'll manage. You boys need it more than I do right now. When y'all get done with your little cross-country tour I may need to trade it in for a new one."

"There will be a lot of miles put on it, that's for sure. Okay, boys, let's kick the tires and light the fires." He turned and started out of the office while the others exchanged a look and started laughing.

"Well since he's using movie lines today: "May the force be with you!" Matt cracked up. "See you later." Vince and Will caught up with Roy at the elevator and Matt and CJ could hear the three men carrying on as the doors closed.

"Do you think they'll actually manage to get some work done?" CJ wrapped her arms around Matt's neck pulling him down for a kiss.

"If you keep doing that I won't be getting any work done." He smiled down at her and kissed her back then sat back down in front of the computer and went back to work on the Mercer case. "Just because Bellwood was involved with her, that doesn't mean that he committed the murder. But it sure throws a whole new light on the case. And getting a look at the birth certificate might not mean much either – people have been known to lie about those things – and most likely would have in this case." He got up and hit the coffee pot again bringing back a cup for CJ.

"If what we think is true really is, what would be her motive? It's a little late for revenge, don't you think?" CJ pulled her legs up under her on the couch and took a sip of coffee.

"I don't know, Babe, that's what I'm having trouble with right now. But there's definitely something going on there." Matt continued reading but nothing else that he found seemed to have any bearing on the case.

"Alright, let's change gears here. I want to see if there are any red flags on your friend Terrence Whitaker." He punched in the man's name and address and started reading. "Okay, he's forty three, married, three kids, works as the manager of three GetNGo convenience stores: one on La Brea, one on Wilshire, and the last on Alvarado. Seems pretty clean. Did he mention why he was looking for a private investigator?"

"Nope. Kinda makes you wonder what your imposter got to hear, doesn't it?" She rubbed the back of his neck. Matt turned off the computer and it closed back into the coffee table.

They both heard the elevator and Matt turned to see who was there. He got up followed by CJ and headed for the outer office. "Hi, is there something I can help you with?" Matt walked on down the steps.

"Uh, yeah are you Matt Houston?" The man was wearing a short sleeve shirt with the GetNGo convenience store logo on it.

"Yes sir, I am."

"I'm Terrence Whitaker. And I'm guessing you're CJ?" He smiled as she followed her husband down the steps.

"I am. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." She gave him a big smile as they all shook hands.

Whitaker gave Matt the once over. "Well that other fella sure wasn't you."

"No sir, I was in Texas Saturday afternoon. We've been working trying to find out exactly who that was that you talked to, and we've also got a couple of questions: when you met with him, did you come up in the elevator?" Whitaker followed them up the stairs and into the main part of the office.

"No, he told me it was down for maintenance. Guess that should have been a red flag, but that made sense – it was the weekend."

"Okay, something else I wondered. Do you remember him touching anything? The desk out front, the bar – anything like that?"

"Yeah, he did – and I was a little surprised. He pulled out a whiskey bottle from behind the bar and poured himself a shot."

"Okay." Matt walked over behind the bar and invited Whitaker to join him. "Can you point out which bottle it was?" There were four different whiskey bottles on the shelf.

"Yeah, that one right there. I noticed because it's my favorite." Whitaker grinned.

Matt looked around and didn't see a dirty glass anywhere. "He must have washed the glass – which means he touched the faucet." He walked back out from behind the bar. "Did he touch anything else that you can think of?"

"Well, we sat down at the bar and he was standing behind it, you know, with his hands on top leaning on it."

"Uncle Roy and the boys have been working there, so I don't think it will do us much good to dust it." He was looking at CJ, then turned to speak to Whitaker. "How did you happen to get in touch with him?"

"I called Friday about 11:00am and he answered the phone."

"That's about the time we were landing in Texas." CJ was standing next to Whitaker. "I understand why you might not want to tell us, but why were you wanting to hire us, Mr. Whitaker?"

"I'm the manager of three GetNGo stores. We've had some problems with our inventory disappearing at the store on La Brea. We've got security cameras, but someone has been tampering with the tapes from them. I need to know which of my employees is robbing me blind."

"Well, if you really want to hire ME," Matt grinned at Whitaker, "I've got just the thing to catch them."

"I do want to hire you, Mr. Houston, but I'm afraid that other fella took my money."

"Tell you what, considering you've been scammed and this won't be a very hard job at all, I'll do it for free. How's that sound?" Matt held out his hand.

"Okay, but how do I know that you are really you?" Whitaker shook the offered hand and was smiling.

"That's easy." Matt pulled out his wallet and removed his PI's license and showed it to the man. "From now on when you need to hire a private investigator, ask to check their license." He grinned as he put it back into his wallet.

"You know, I could kick myself for being taken in by that jerk. I sure do appreciate you helping me out – especially after I was so rude to your missus. Ma'am, I apologize again." He looked slightly sheepish.

"You had every right to be upset." She shook his hand. "Now, just so you know that we're legit, come on back to my office – we need to get you to sign a contract. That's another way to know that you're dealing with the real thing." She led the way to the office just as Catey Rose decided that it was time for a bottle and diaper change.

Matt followed them into the room and scooped up Catey. "I'll take care of this while y'all take care of that. Then I'll show Mr. Whitaker the solution to his problem." He smiled at his daughter. "Bet we can get done before they do, Sweet Pea. Whatcha think?" The pair headed down to the nursery and continued to talk back and forth during the diaper change and then came back up for a bottle. Matt was warming it in the microwave and giving Catey raspberries again, causing her to laugh.

Whitaker looked up at CJ, smiling. "How many kids do you two have?"

"That's the first." She was finishing up with the papers and making a copy for the manager

"Really? He acts like he's done that a lot. I've got three kids myself. The oldest will start college next year. Hard to believe how fast the time goes by." He folded the paper that CJ handed him and they walked back out into the main part of the office.

"How about I take Miss Catey Rose and you and Mr. Whitaker talk shop?" CJ took her daughter from Matt and the pair went and sat down on the couch to take care of the bottle.

"Would now be a good time to set up the surveillance or do you need to wait until your employees are gone?" Matt had pulled out a couple of his "critters".

"Now would work I guess. The office where the tapes are is in a separate room. We can close the door."

"Okay. CJ, I'm going to go get this set up. Can you call Michael about dusting for prints? Be back in a little while. Love you." He headed for the elevator followed by the convenience store manager.

"Alright. Be careful. Love you." She and Catey continued to work on the bottle. She picked up the phone and called Michael Hoyt. "Hi there. It's your favorite PI."

"Yep, you are, much better than that guy that you're married to – what's going on today?"

"Well, I hate to ask, but could you have somebody come back out to dust for prints again?"

"No way! Don't tell me they did it again!" Hoyt couldn't believe that anyone would strike again so soon.

"Nope, we talked to the man who got scammed and he showed us a couple of items that the imposter touched." As her mom said those last words, Catey decided to burp – loudly. "And just so you know, that wasn't me." CJ looked at her daughter and gave her the raised eyebrow – she just laughed.

"I thought it was Houston." Hoyt knew better but was trying to have a little fun. "Okay, I'll call down and have someone come over. I sure hope this gets cleared up pretty soon – it could be really bad for business."

"Yep. Matt just left to help the man who got scammed with his problem – pro bono." It wasn't that big of a job and would probably be resolved within a couple of days' time – not a major expense for Matt.

"Well that was nice of him. I'll get somebody over there. Talk to you later."

"Thanks, Michael. 'Bye." She hung up the phone and turned her attention back to Catey. "Looks like it's just us girls for a while."


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

Matt pulled into the GetNGo parking lot right behind Terrence Whitaker and followed the manager into the office. After locking the door behind them, Whitaker turned to Matt. "Okay, now what?"

Houston was looking at the room, trying to figure out the best place to hide the bug. He noticed a shelf located just behind the desk. "If I can borrow your chair, I think we can have this taken care of in just a minute." Whitaker slid the chair over to him and Matt stood up on it to reach the top of the shelf. After adjusting it to what he thought was the right angle, he pulled out his laptop and activated the critter, and brought up the feed from it on the screen. He turned the computer to allow Whitaker to see the picture.

"Wow! That looks like it's good enough to be in a movie theater. Where'd you get that thing?" He was absolutely amazed by the quality of the picture.

Matt proudly closed the laptop. "I worked with Derwin Dunlap to design and test a whole line of surveillance items."

"That guy is absolutely amazing and you ain't no slouch." He grinned at Matt. "I'm almost glad I got scammed." They both laughed.

"Tell you what, if you can get your employee to go take some trash out or something I can put one up behind the counter to keep an eye on the cash register – if they're taking items they're likely taking cash as well. Has the money count been coming up short?"

"Yep. I really don't think it's the guy that's out there right now. If I had to guess, I would say it's the lady that works in here at night. But I could be wrong." Whitaker unlocked the door and asked the man to take some trash out and check the garbage barrels at the pumps. As soon as he was out the door and out of sight, Matt came out and popped a critter on the ceiling tile right above the register. He stepped back into the office to check the feed and gave Whitaker a thumbs up when he walked back out into the store.

After the customer that was being waited on left, Matt told him he was all set. "I'll go back and check the feed from time to time over the next few hours and let you know what we find." They shook hands and Whitaker thanked him again. Matt picked up the laptop and left just as the employee came back into the store.

On his way back to the office, Matt was going over the problem with the imposter. If it was one of the security guards trying to pull a fast one, it would be fairly easy to find out: the finger prints of every guard in the building were on file.

The Mercer case, however, was a little trickier. As he was stopped at a light, Matt called Hoyt. "Hey bud, do you have any idea when you might get a gander at that birth certificate?"

"Guess what just got faxed over to me?" Hoyt had just come back into his office with the paper and a cup of coffee.

"Alright, be there in about ten minutes. Thanks bud." Matt hung up and made a left turn at the next light and headed for the police station. He parked in the garage of the building and went to the counter to get a visitor's pass. "Sorry Bob, I didn't take any pictures yesterday." He knew the sergeant would want to see more pictures of Catey Rose.

"You're slipping there Dad." Bob laughed and handed Matt a visitor's badge. "Oh, I think the lieutenant has a surprise for you, too." That piqued the private investigator's curiosity and he wondered what it could be as he rode up to the fourth floor. He stepped off of the elevator, grabbed a cup of coffee, and headed on back to Hoyt's office.

"Mornin'." He toasted the detective with his coffee cup as he came in the door.

"Here you go." Hoyt handed him the fax of the birth certificate. "It's a real eye opener."

"Damn. I figured that she would have lied on there." Matt pondered the implications. "Okay, I'm thinking this could have gone two ways: one, she didn't tell him that he was the father or two: he knew he was but didn't care."

Hoyt nodded. "From what you've told me, the first choice sounds most likely."

"And from what happened, I'd say he found out somehow. The question is how?" Matt sipped his coffee. "I wonder…" He stopped mid-sentence. Hoyt waited: he had seen this process before. "I wonder what would happen if they were both brought in for questioning, kept separated, but caught sight of each other. The old "he's gonna get the deal / she's gonna get the deal" deal." He grinned at Hoyt.

"It's a possibility." Michael thought about it for a minute. "It's a wonder you've even got what you have after three years. I don't see that we've got much to lose."

"I can probably get her down here with a phone call – say she needs to look at some pictures in a mug book, maybe? He on the other hand, is going to require a firmer hand." Matt drank more of the coffee. "As in a certain police lieutenant is going to have to act all official."

"Speaking of official, I've got something for you." He stood up and pulled something out of the desk drawer and walked over to the private investigator, removing the visitor's pass and handing him an LAPD ID. "No more stops to get a pass."

"Bob Peterson isn't going to be too happy about this ya know." Matt grinned up at his friend. "So what does this mean – I'm a mascot?" He laughed.

"No, heaven forbid." Hoyt sat back down behind his desk. "I had been thinking about it for a while and your little donut stunt back in June just hit the point home. After a chat with the chief, you've got your own civilian ID." He smiled as Matt put it around his neck. "Remember when we first met? Bet you never thought I would make it easy for you to get in here."

"Hell it always was easy to get in here – until they dropped you into the middle of it." He laughed. "But thanks, Michael, I appreciate it."

"I think you've more than earned it – all the homicides, kidnappings, robberies, and all the call-outs in the middle of the night – you've definitely earned it."

"Well, depending on how the questioning goes, I may or may not be getting paid for this case." He drank more of the coffee.

"When I talked to CJ earlier she told me you were taking care of the guy that had been scammed pro bono. Aren't you just the nice one?" Hoyt leaned back and took another sip of coffee. "Now, we need to come up with a game plan on questioning Mercer and Bellwood."

About an hour later, Hoyt had two officers bring in Bellwood for questioning and he and Charlene Mercer saw each other as Bellwood was led past the room where Matt was sitting with his client. The shock on her face was evident. "What is he doing here? He lived across the street from Mom and Dad."

"Hmm, I don't know. I met him yesterday and was talking to the lieutenant about him. Maybe he knows something about the murders. I'm sure we'll find out in a little bit." Matt opened another mug book.

"But if he knew something about it, why wouldn't he have said something when it happened?" She looked at Matt, who shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't know; I'll have to talk to the lieutenant when he gets done. Do any of these guys look familiar?" He slid the book over to Mercer who seemed quite distracted. "Hey, did you hear me?"

"Uh yeah, I just…" She looked slightly scared.

Meanwhile, Hoyt was talking to Bellwood. "Mr. Bellwood, we appreciate you taking the time to come talk to us."

"Sure you do – you sent those two goons to pick me up like a common criminal. You really appreciate it." He was steaming mad. "It's been three years since the Mercer's were killed – why are you just now doing something about it?"

"Well sir, some new evidence has been brought to light by a local private investigator. I believe you met him yesterday – Matt Houston?" Hoyt sat down across from the man and gave him a knowing look.

"Yeah, I saw him skulking around. I don't tolerate riff raff in my neighborhood – went and checked him out. He had a PI's license so I left him alone." Bellwood had puffed up like a toad.

"Skulking, huh? He told me he had just parked in front of the house when you came up demanding to know what he was doing there."

"Same thing. He doesn't live there, so he doesn't need to be hanging around. He wasn't invited." Bellwood was looking rather defensive with his arms crossed.

"It's a public street, Mr. Bellwood. Anyone can park there." Hoyt had a feeling that Matt had been right on the money with his theory. "But that's not why we're here. Mr. Houston tells me that you claim that you told the investigating officers three years ago about a fight that occurred in front of the Mercer home. Would you explain that to me?"

"Why in the hell should I?" Bellwood's face was starting to turn red.

"Well, there's no record of you making a statement to the officers back then. That seems a little odd."

"I guess they were too lazy to put it in the report." Veins on Bellwood's temples were beginning to stick out and Hoyt could see the man's pulse throbbing.

"So you can understand why I'd like to hear it then, right?" The veteran lieutenant was remaining very calm and it appeared to be unnerving the man.

During this time, Matt was still in another interrogation room with his client who was getting more nervous by the minute. "Ms. Mercer, I can't help but notice you seem to be somewhat disturbed. Is there anything that you would like to tell me?" They had been able to hear Bellwood's raised voice but couldn't distinguish the words.

"He uh…he was Michael's biological father." She looked at Matt. "I didn't know it until…" Charlene Mercer stopped. "Until we were having an affair."

"I see. And…?" Matt's suspicions had been correct.

"I was sixteen when it started. I used to babysit his kids and, well…you get the idea." She was looking at her hands.

"Uh huh. And what else happened?"

"We carried on like that until I was twenty three and I told him that I had met someone else." She started to tear up. "He got really mad. His wife had found out and divorced him. He said I had cost him his marriage and that I was his to do with as he pleased." She stopped and took a drink from a bottle of water. "I told him that I would tell that I had been sixteen when he convinced me to have sex with him the first time - and he threatened to kill my family if I didn't do what he wanted."

"So you didn't go to the police obviously." Matt leaned back in his chair. "What did you do?"

"I talked to my mother. She didn't know that I knew about him being Michael's dad – I had come across the birth certificate one time when she asked me to look for some other papers for her. I was eighteen at the time. But when he threatened them, I told her everything. As it turns out, he had raped her but she was too embarrassed to tell my dad or the police. She told me that she was going to talk to Dad that night and come clean – tell him everything and that we would go to the police the next day. That was the night they were killed. He saw me leaving their house and followed me to my apartment. I didn't want to tell him but he grabbed me by the hair…" Charlene Mercer burst into tears. "He drug me into my apartment and started hitting me – everywhere but on my face. He made me tell him." She struggled to breathe.

"So you didn't tell anybody all of this when you found out your family was dead. Why did you come to me yesterday and hire me to look into it?"

"Because I thought if somebody else found out about him killing them, he wouldn't drag me into it – it would just make things worse for him." Mercer was barely able to speak.

Down the hall, Bellwood was raging. He could hear the sobbing coming from the room that Mercer and Houston were in and his temper boiled over. Hoyt's phone began chirping. He pulled it out and read the text that Matt had sent him and then looked at Bellwood. "The gig's up, Mr. Bellwood. Ms. Mercer just told the whole story."

Bellwood suddenly stood up and threw the table against the wall. Matt heard the ruckus down the hallway and took off, telling one of the officers to keep an eye on Mercer. He entered the room as Bellwood was putting his hands around Hoyt's neck. Matt dove at the murderer from the doorway and tackled him, causing all three men to crash to the floor. Bellwood fought like a caged animal but between Matt punching him and Hoyt cuffing him, his attack didn't last very long.

As Bellwood was read his rights once again and taken down to booking, Hoyt straightened his tie and looked over at Matt grinning. "I didn't think quarterbacks were any good at tackling."

Houston shrugged. "Guess the techniques kinda rubbed off on me when I got tackled myself. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He followed Matt up to the room where Charlene Mercer was still sitting, now crying silently. Matt filled Hoyt in on the details as they went down the hall. "I just wonder – did he do that to any other women in the neighborhood?"

"I wouldn't be a bit surprised. e He He sure came off as a control freak." Hoyt opened the door and Matt introduced him to Mercer. "Mr. Houston here has told me about your conversation. I believe you need to speak with the DA's office and see if they might be able to help you out a little bit in exchange for your testimony. Right now you're considered to be an accessory."

Shock and fear were written all over Charlene Mercer's face. "I thought he would kill me!"

"And that's exactly why you should have come to us, Ms. Mercer, right when it first happened." Hoyt walked out and called the DA's office to send someone over as Matt sat down across from Charlene once again.

"I'm pretty sure you can cut a deal with them, Ms. Mercer." He felt sorry for her in a way, but she could have easily prevented the deaths of her family members by simply calling the police. She just nodded.


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

After signing a statement, Matt went back to the office and started going through the feed from the critter cameras he had installed in the GetNGo convenience store. It didn't take long for him to find the guilty party. The very employee that Terrence Whitaker hadn't suspected was the guilty one. Matt picked up the phone and called Whitaker's cell phone. As it rang, he looked at his watch: it was almost 1:00 and his stomach was rumbling. "Hi Mr. Whitaker, it's Houston. I've got some interesting footage for you to look at. Uh huh. Well, here's what I'm going to suggest. Don't do anything until after we watch your other employee later, just to be sure that they both aren't doing it. Yes sir. Okay, I'll talk to you in the morning. You're welcome. 'Bye." He hung up the phone and went into CJ's office where Catey Rose was enjoying her bottle.

"I'm hungry." He leaned down and gave his wife a kiss. "What would you like?"

"At this point, anything. How about you?"

"Sabrina's sounds good. How about I get it delivered? Miss Catey Rose here is probably going to want a nap after she's done snarfing down that bottle." He smiled down at his daughter who stopped eating long enough to smile back at her dad. "Fried chicken sounds really good right now."

"I won't argue with that at all." She gave Matt a peck on the cheek and he went back out to the bar where he had the takeout menu and made the call. When he was done ordering, he came back to CJ's office and took the baby from his wife to burp her as he explained the outcome of the Mercer case. "At least it's over and it didn't take very long at all. You know, I was thinking on the way over here, if Bellwood wasn't such a nosy control freak and hadn't approached me yesterday morning while I was looking at the Mercer house, he might very well have gotten away with the whole thing. He made it three years without so much as anyone looking at him for it." Matt had the baby up on his shoulder, gently patting her back. After she let out with a couple of good burps, he began rubbing her back in circles. She started yawning and cooing at him, causing him and CJ both to smile. Within a couple of minutes she was fast asleep and Matt took her down to the nursery to put her in the crib.

A few minutes later, their lunch was delivered and the couple sat down to eat. "I heard you talking to Mr. Whitaker earlier. You caught one of the employees already?"

Matt nodded and swallowed a mouthful of coleslaw. "I saw him hand over two cases of beer to somebody without taking the money for them and then I saw him erasing the security tape – after he picked the lock to get into the office. He was even wearing gloves when he punched the button on the recorder."

"That takes nerve." She took a bite of chicken. "So what are you thinking about our imposter? When do you think he'll show up again?"

"Well, I talked to Walter privately before I came up here while ago. He gave me the names of the guards who were here Friday at 11:00am. Only one of them is a blonde. And he started working here six months ago." Matt took a long swallow of iced tea.

"Long enough to hear about what happened when we were in Hawaii. I wonder why he did it?"

"I don't know. I'm going to see what I can find out about him after lunch." After polishing off the lunch as well as the carrot cake that he surprised CJ with for dessert, the pair went and sat down on the couch and pulled up BABY. Matt found the employment record for Shane Oliver. "Alright Shane Oliver, age twenty four, married. Seems to be a good employee from what I'm seeing here. He's been late a couple of times but that's the worst of it – and aren't we all on occasion." Matt leaned back for a minute and thought. "Okay, other than greed – why would he take a chance on impersonating me?"

"Maybe because you have such a James Bond reputation." CJ giggled as she spoke.

"Oh, well not so much anymore – not since I married the most beautiful woman in the world and became a dad." He put his arm around her. "He's making better than the average armed security guard – working for Houston Industries has a few perks." Matt hit a few more keys. "His wife is a dental assistant, so she's making pretty decent money. I don't get it."

"Maybe he's in debt?" CJ was racking her brain to come up with a reason for the man's lack of good judgment.

"Could be. Let's see what we can find on him…hello. He sure didn't report that, now did he?" Matt had been looking into arrest reports that had been published in the newspapers. "Oliver was arrested on a gambling charge – betting on baseball games among other things." Although gambling at casinos on Native American lands was legal, sports betting was not legal. "Looks like he kind of jumped the gun there. It's probably going to pass in the state Senate, but the federal regulations will have to be repealed for it to go into effect." He closed up the computer. "I think we're going to be out of town on a case the rest of the week CJ, and make sure everyone in security knows it."

"I think you're right." She shook her head. "It's really a shame, you know?"

"Yep, but he's the one that caused the problem. Walter says that Oliver will be working the rest of the week." Matt picked up the phone and called down to the security desk. "Hey, Mike how's it goin'? Pretty good. Look, CJ and I are going to be gone the rest of the week on a case starting tomorrow. Yeah, she's still on her honeymoon. Uh huh." He laughed. "Alright, I appreciate it. 'Bye." He hung up and looked at his wife. "Alright, we've cast out the bait. Now we get to wait on a nibble."

The phone rang and Matt picked it up. "Houston Investigations. Hi Cheryl. Uh huh. Uh huh. Yeah, we just figured out it was him. No, we want to catch him on video so we've put out some bait. Yep, thanks a lot. You too. 'Bye." He hung up the phone. "The fingerprints just came back to Oliver on the whiskey bottle."

"So there's more evidence against him." She shook her head. "It's amazing how people can get addicted to gambling."

"Well now I've got an addiction problem myself." Matt leaned back against the arm of the couch and pulled CJ over on top of him. "I'm addicted to my wife's kisses and…"

CJ covered his mouth. "The kisses you can have right now…but anything else will have to wait until we get home." She kissed him. "Just a little something to keep your addiction in line until then."

After a few minutes of kisses, Matt decided to watch the feed from the convenience store. "Otherwise there's no way my addiction is going to wait." He wiggled his eyebrows at his wife as he sat up on the couch and pulled the computer back up.

They sat there and watched the man that Matt had seen working in the store that morning and then his replacement that came in about an hour later. Terrence Whitaker showed up about the time of the shift change and pulled the drawer to count it. While he was in the office with the door locked, he waved at the critter camera, causing Matt and CJ to laugh. He held up a note to the camera that simply said, "SHORT".

"Well he certainly seems to be enjoying the surveillance." CJ got up to get them some coffee and they began watching as the lady that came in at 3:00 began waiting on customers. About 4:00, Catey woke up and CJ decided to head home. They locked up the safe and made sure that everything that contained private information was secured.

Not long after Matt and CJ arrived home, Uncle Roy stopped by to drop Vince off and he and Will ended up staying for supper again. The whole gang sat around talking about the jobs that they were working on and enjoying each other's company. Occasionally, Matt would go in and check the critter feed from the convenience store. He hadn't seen any suspicious behavior from the female cashier and was pretty sure that she was honest. After taking Catey for her nightly ride with Cricket, Matt came back up to the house where Uncle Roy and Will were ready to give her a bath. "Maybe if he sees how much fun it can be he'll decide to get off his butt and get a couple for himself." Roy looked over at his son, who just smiled and blushed. Catey seemed to enjoy the attention and before long, Will had her ready for bed. He and Roy walked out to the patio where Matt and CJ were snuggled together in a lounge chair and gave CJ the baby monitor.

The next morning, Matt rode into the office with Roy, Will, and Vince and flew the chopper back to the house. He and CJ would be using it to get to work that day so that no one would see their vehicles in the parking garage. As they sat in her office with the door to the outer office closed they heard someone come up the stairs. Matt had put a decoy camera up on the wall and turned it so that it appeared to be broken and put a cover over the real camera. Shane Oliver fell for it. He unlocked the stairwell door to the office and slipped in. Matt slipped out of CJ's office and around the corner to keep an eye on Oliver. CJ dialed the office phone with her cell phone and the security guard answered it.

"Houston Investigations."

"Yes, my name is Charlotte Tutwiler. I was hoping to speak to Mr. Houston about a problem I'm having with my husband."

"I'm Mr. Houston. What seems to be the problem?" Oliver was grinning the whole time he was talking.

"Well, I'd rather not discuss it over the phone. Would you be able to meet with me today?"

"My schedule is full until tonight. Say 8:00pm?"

"That would be just fine."

"Alright, I have a minimum retainer fee of $2500."

"Oh, okay. I'll be sure to bring it then. Thank you."

"Thank you." He hung up and rubbed his hands together and then started in towards the bar. Matt cleared his throat just as he was about three feet from the bar. The guard spun around and his jaw dropped when he saw who was there.

"You know, you're not anywhere near tall enough to try to be me, Oliver." Matt walked toward the man who took a couple of steps back.

"Mr. Houston, how are you? I just came up here to be sure everything was alright. I heard you were going to be gone the rest of the week and…"

CJ came walking out of her office just then carrying a laptop that was playing the surveillance feed from the conversation that she had with Oliver. He turned white as a ghost and then made a run at Matt, who easily side stepped him. When Oliver turned around with his pistol drawn, Matt already had his pistol pointing at the man.

"Drop it, Oliver. It's all over." Matt stepped forward a couple of steps as the man did as he was told. The private investigator picked up the pistol. "Have a seat." He motioned to the poker table and Oliver stalked over to it, all the while shooting daggers at Houston. "CJ, would you be so kind as to call Michael?"

"I already did. He's on his way with a couple of patrolmen." She walked back into the office to take care of Catey who had decided that it was time to wake up.

"So how did you figure out it was me?" Shane Oliver looked up at Matt.

"It really wasn't very hard. Number one, you were the only blonde headed guy working last Saturday. Plus you had been around just long enough to hear about how the other break-in was pulled off. How many times did you really think it would work?"

"I don't know. I had to do something to get the bookies off of my back."

"So what did you do with the $2500 you got from Whitaker last weekend?"

"Paid one of the bookies. I still owe $7500 to him."

"You know if you had told somebody here that you had a gambling problem, we could have gotten you some help. Now all you're going to get is a ride to jail."


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER 10**

Friday morning Matt met with Terrence Whitaker and showed him the surveillance videos. "I really thought it was Margie. He sure did have me fooled – but not anymore."

Matt had shown him how Roger Bertram had moved several cases of beer out the door for free and how he had skimmed the cash drawer. He pulled out the flash drive and handed it to the manager. "There ya go. Take that to the police and file your charges. And here's a suggestion: give Margie a raise. The customers really like her." He grinned at Terrence.

"You know, I believe I will. Mr. Houston, I appreciate everything you've done. And it sounds like that fella that took my money will be having a while behind bars to think about what he did."

"Well, between breaking and entering and scamming you, I don't think he'll be getting any more jobs where he can scam folks so easily again." He clapped Whitaker on the back and they headed toward the elevator. "I'll stop by later on and pick up the cameras." The two men shook hands and Whittaker left.

Friday afternoon Roy, Vince, and Will came walking into the office about 3:00. "Did y'all get done early?" Matt was a little surprised to see them there so soon.

"Yep. We make a good team." Roy smiled over at the two men. "And we even managed to have a good time while we were working."

"Well hell, maybe I should go along on this trip." Matt looked at the trio.

"Nope, you can't do that." Will spoke up for the group.

"Why not? I'm the boss." Matt looked at his cousin.

"Because you would miss CJ and Catey too bad and would probably drive the rest of us crazy." Vince and Roy both cracked up as Matt grinned.

"Yeah, you're probably right, Cuz. I've kind of gotten used to having my ladies around. Besides, they smell a lot better than y'all do." He put his arm around CJ who was holding Catey Rose. "So y'all will be starting down in San Diego on Monday, is that right?"

"We sure will. And if we keep going at the same rate that this job went we should be done about two weeks sooner than we had planned – assuming that we don't run into any problems along the way." Roy was pretty pleased with the way things were going so far. He had worked hard to get the deal together and was glad that all of his hard work was paying off – not just for Houston Investigations, but for Will and Vince as well. They were going to make a large chunk of money off of the deal.

"So what do you boys say we celebrate – huh? I believe there are some catfish fillets at the house that need to be fried up. Whatcha say?"


End file.
